Logicalis Asks CIOs: Share Your Greatest Pressures And Priorities For Third Annual Global Study

Solution Provider Examines Shift from Technology-Focused to Services-Led IT Organizations, Asks Top U.S. IT Pros to Weigh In

For the past two years, Logicalis, an international IT solutions and managed services provider, has conducted a global survey of CIO pressures and priorities. These studies have been instrumental in uncovering trends and expectations that, when implemented, can propel an IT department’s position from that of a backroom cost center to that of a services-led partner to internal line-of-business (LOB) customers. In 2013, the survey revealed that 60 percent of CIO respondents believed LOB managers would gain more power over IT decision-making in the next three to five years. A year later, the 2014 survey, which polled top IT pros in 24 countries, showed this to be true: One in four CIOs admitted they had lost control of information and communication technology (ICT) spending and acknowledged that the balance of power in ICT spending had already shifted decisively toward line-of-business executives. The remedy, the survey showed, was to transform IT departments from being technology focused to services focused. To do that, IT needed to become a broker of technology services; the first step toward this service-defined enterprise model, experts agreed, was embracing a software-defined data center, something which three out of four CIOs worldwide claimed a year ago they were making a priority. Have CIOs now fully embraced this transformation? To find out, Logicalis is conducting a new survey, and U.S. CIOs and other top-level IT pros are invited to take part.

“Expectations for what the enterprise IT department does have changed dramatically in recent years,” says Mike Martin, Senior Vice President, Solutions and Services, Logicalis US. “Where IT once was completely consumed with technology-based thinking – the ‘speeds and feeds’ behind the scene – today’s business technology consumers have very different expectations. Now, it’s all about user experience. People have become accustomed to buying the services they need on demand from a variety of providers, and if IT can’t deliver what line-of-business users and managers need to do their jobs, they’ll turn elsewhere to procure those services. This issue is not just about the CIO maintaining control over the IT department; it’s about the CIO remaining relevant in his or her job and being seen as a business partner rather than a cost center within the company. How are they doing? It’s an issue so important and so pervasive that Logicalis is now conducting its third annual global survey to find out.”

This year’s global survey will be available online until September 10th. CIOs and other top IT pros are invited to participate. The survey results will be available for download from the Logicalis US web site at www.us.logicalis.com in Q3 2015.

Want to Learn More?

• Read a press release about the results of the 2014 study, download the 2014 survey results, then explore the relationship between a software-defined data center and a service-defined enterprise: http://ow.ly/P3GEy.
• Watch a brief video explaining Logicalis’ service-defined experience; explore six ways an on-demand, service-defined infrastructure benefits the enterprise; then download a white paper, “Why Every CEO Wants to Lead a Service Defined Enterprise and Why the CIO Needs to Make it Happen,” here: http://ow.ly/EXaVy.
• Read more about this services-led IT transformation, including a press release about Logicalis’ first global CIO study conducted in 2013, then download the 2013 report, “Embracing a New IT Reality,” here: http://ow.ly/EX9ez.

About Logicalis
Logicalis is an international IT solutions and managed services provider with a breadth of knowledge and expertise in communications and collaboration, data center and cloud services, and managed services.

Logicalis employs over 4,000 people worldwide, including highly trained service specialists who design, specify, deploy and manage complex IT infrastructures to meet the needs of almost 6,000 corporate and public sector customers. To achieve this, Logicalis maintains strong partnerships with technology leaders such as Cisco, HP, IBM, EMC, NetApp, Microsoft, VMware and ServiceNow on an international basis and has specialized solutions for enterprise and medium-sized companies in vertical markets covering financial services, telecommunications, media and technology, education, healthcare, retail, government, manufacturing and professional services helping customers benefit from cutting-edge technologies in a cost-effective way.

The Logicalis Group has annualized revenues of over $1.5B from operations in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific and is one of the leading IT and communications solution integrators specializing in the areas of advanced technologies and services.

The Logicalis Group is a division of Datatec Limited, listed on the Johannesburg and London AIM Stock Exchanges, with revenues of approximately $6B.

For more information, visit www.us.logicalis.com.

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